Need some advice on connecting 24 DWC buckets together

josephDOTmoney

josephDOTmoney

Member
Hey RUI. I'm looking for some ideas on connecting DWC buckets. I've been doing some searching on this site, as well as google. I've been running DWC for almost a year now, and love the results. I have a 72 plant grow, that I've been running and am just now starting my own. I bought out another one I was running, that had three ebb n flow monster setups. This system was nothing but problems, pumps not working right, things getting clogged, just a big pain, and not delivering the results I wanted. I love the idea of having everything connected so I can scrog my plants better, and not have to get in and move them around to fill/empty the buckets.

Here is what I currently have to work with.

3 ebb n flow monster systems, with the add ons, so I have enough fittings, res's, control buckets, and pumps.
Loads of 4" air stones, and commercial O2 pumps.
Loads of buckets and lids ect.

I've seen systems where there are return lines installed half way up on the bucket, with drippers. I've also seen gravity fed systems with just one hose connecting the buckets. I'm trying to avoid having to go to the grow every other day to top off the buckets, but also want a way to completely drain the system without pumping out of each bucket, like I do now.

I have two bloom rooms, and will run 24 plants under 4 1k hps lights on movers in each room.

Thoughts on how to make this happen??
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
you can grow in bigger totes with each carrying 6-8 plants, this way you will have to make 3-4 drains instead of 24 or you can just make 24 drains in the buckets. you can buy the smallest size drain you can find and then connect the totes together from below with pvc pipes or hose. i have done flood and drain and DWC gone back and forth the 2 systems, honestly, flood and drain systems are simpler with excellent and more consistent results, you could flower all your 24 plants with a single pump, it is also more tolerant to heat than DWC, much easier to manage a larger scale grow like yours. I hope this helps :joint::)
 
josephDOTmoney

josephDOTmoney

Member
I grow some pretty hardy size plants, so not so sure on the tote idea, but it does sound like a great design. I was thinking of just putting in a hose towards the bottom of every bucket, and just connecting them all to a large tote. I could fill the tote, with my mix, and let gravity fill all the buckets, so they would be at the same height. I was then thinking of taking my 55 gallon res, and hooking that to the "control" tote with a petcock in it to tell the res pump to fill the control tote back up. On the tote, I could put a drain valve on it and have it flush out the system. Each bucket will still have an air stone, so it will still be a true dwc, but the buckets will all stay full. The res, and control totes will all be in a separate air conditioned room.

Basically I'm trying to eliminate the whole filling/draining of each bucket. I may go this route, because I have most of the fittings, hoses, controllers, res, ect. :peace:
 
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